JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Missouri Rising’s Mark Rhoads will testify before the Missouri state legislature Thursday in support of labor reform. Rhoads will appear before the House Economic Development committee in support of HB 1413 introduced by Rep. Jered Taylor, as well as appearing before the Senate General Laws Committee of the SB 602 introduced by Senator Bob Onder.
Each of these bills address paycheck protection, requiring unions to annually obtain consent from members and nonmembers for paycheck withholdings. Additionally, these key pieces of legislation require public labor unions to maintain comprehensive records that are electronically accessible to union members.
The Missouri General Assembly passed similar legislation in both 2013 and 2016 that were each vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. Six other states have passed similar legislation that provides important worker protections and Missouri Rising urges the Missouri General Assembly to follow suit to ensure these important protections for workers in Missouri.
MISSOURI RISING TESTIMONY ON HB 1413:
“Madam Chair and members of the committee, Mark Rhoads testifying in support of HB 1413 on behalf of Missouri Rising. We first want to express our gratitude to Rep. Taylor for introducing this bill.
“Paycheck protection legislation protects Missouri workers from union overreach by requiring unions to annually obtain consent from members and nonmembers for paycheck withholdings. One glaring example of this overreach is that although 42% of union households supported Donald Trump for President (CNN exit polling), organized labor used member dues to overwhelmingly support Hillary Clinton donating $29 million to her versus $16,000 to Trump (Center for Responsive Politics).
“HB 1413 protects union members and nonmembers that reject union withholdings from an increase in dues or from paying dues as a condition of employment. It is reasonable to permit workers the right to consent to such withholdings and to have some input into how their hard earned wages are spent to support or not support political campaigns through union dues.
“Equally important are provisions in this bill that would require public labor unions to maintain comprehensive records that are electronically accessible to union members. There is currently litigation brought by a former compliance officer for the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Union accusing union officials of misspending, stealing and squandering union dues that were not disclosed to members of the union.
“The Missouri General Assembly has twice passed paycheck protection legislation in 2013 and 2016 only to have the bill vetoed by Governor Nixon. And six states have passed similar legislation (Utah, Wyoming, Ohio, Michigan and Washington State). In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Idaho’s paycheck protection law noting that restricting employee payroll deductions for politics does not infringe on the free speech rights of unions. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Washington State’s law requiring unions to “get the consent of nonmembers to spend their representation fees on political activities”.
“We urge the committee to consider the important worker protections that are embodied in HB 1413 and respectfully ask for a favorable vote on this legislation.”
MISSOURI RISING TESTIMONY ON SB 602:
“Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, Mark Rhoads testifying in support of SB 602 on behalf of Missouri Rising. We first want to express our gratitude to Senator Onder for introducing this bill.
“We support the provisions of this legislation relating to payroll restrictions, reporting requirements for labor organizations and employees, and certification, decertification and recertification of labor organizations as the exclusive bargaining unit.
“Paycheck protection legislation protects Missouri workers from union overreach by requiring unions to annually obtain consent from members and nonmembers for paycheck withholdings. One glaring example of this overreach is that although 42% of union households supported Donald Trump for President (CNN exit polling), organized labor used member dues to overwhelmingly support Hillary Clinton donating $29 million to her versus $16,000 to Trump (Center for Responsive Politics).
“SB 602 protects union members and nonmembers that reject union withholdings from an increase in dues or from paying dues as a condition of employment. It is reasonable to permit public workers the right to consent to such withholdings and to have some input into how their hard earned wages are spent to support or not support political campaigns through union dues.
“Equally important are provisions in this bill that would require public labor unions to maintain comprehensive records that are electronically accessible to union members. There is currently litigation brought by a former compliance officer for the St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Union accusing union officials of misspending, stealing and squandering union dues that were not disclosed to members of the union.
“The Missouri General Assembly has twice passed paycheck protection legislation in 2013 and 2016 only to have the bill vetoed by Governor Nixon. And six states have passed similar legislation (Utah, Wyoming, Ohio, Michigan and Washington State). In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Idaho’s paycheck protection law noting that restricting employee payroll deductions for politics does not infringe on the free speech rights of unions. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Washington State’s law requiring unions to “get the consent of nonmembers to spend their representation fees on political activities”.
“We urge the committee to consider the important worker protections that are embodied in SB 602 and respectfully ask for a favorable vote on this legislation.”
